Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Bates Motel

Riiiiight
Ok, I should probably say more.  A&E has shown themselves to have a tin ear when adapting stories.  Their version of "The Andromeda Strain," for example was just pure dreck.  So I didn't have much hope for a "prequel" of what happened to old Norman Bates and his mom.  Still I watched.  First thing I noticed is that they brought it to the modern times.  I realize that the move saves money but they really could have rocked a "Mad Men" type feel.  Oh well, on the whole that decision didn't rock the boat either way.  Then there's Norman.  He looks the part, but he's not wiggy enough.  Maybe in time he start giving off that vibe that makes people itch but right now he's close to having a hot girlfriend.  Wrongo boyos.  Speaking of hot we come to the crux of the problem...

NORMAN BATE'S MOM SHOULD NOT BE A HOTTIE

It's just wrong on every level.  Look at her, what did she have Norman in middle school?  True she's giving off some really bad vibes but at the moment it's not in the direction that the story was originally suppose to go.  The vibe we are getting now is something we see on Dr. Phil every afternoon.  Definitely, at this point the story is just getting away from teh A&E folk.  Add some dime store soap operay and things like mysterious books under the carpet and you just have a hot mess.

A shame really, you could make a compelling TV series about the slow decay of Norman Bates.  Two things I would have done if I were to ask to design the show would be to make Mrs. Bates the original witch she was and then make sure that she will absolutely die by the last episode of  the fireset season.  Viewers should have to wonder why Norman is so loyal to his mother.  She should have almost no positive traits.  It makes Norman all the more tragic.  It's like one of  the monkeys cuddling a fake mom.  Putting up an absolute timeline means that the writers will have to work hard to set things up for act two where Norman has to alone for the first time as his sanity ebbs away.

Anyway I wouldn't make Mrs. Bates a hottie.  So there.


1 comment:

  1. You are so right. I never felt that Vera Farmiga was much of a hottie in other roles but she is still too hot to play the mother of Norman Bates. Norman's Mom should have been more like a scary version of Dana Carvey as The Church Lady.

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